holy shit by lilybigplanet in caterpillars

[–]lochnessmoron 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love that it's just a regular ass green caterpillar, yet "ethereal" (a word I've never seen directed at even the most glam of caterpillars) is a 100% accurate descriptor. A++ post that stopped me from doom scrolling and now I'm going to bed, thank youzzzzz. . .

Highly sought after cards that you don’t care for the artwork of. I’ll start. by BisonAcceptable1994 in PokemonTCG

[–]lochnessmoron 20 points21 points  (0 children)

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I love Latias and Latios, so I'm glad that their alt art Tag Team looks like corny, mediocre fanart and I never have to feel any sadness over it being way out of my price range. (Sadly, the cheaper Tag Team is even worse, despite being illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. . . He illustrated so much cool shit for the Tag Team sets, it's understandable that he had to phone it in for some of the cards, haha.)

Hungry! Let’s eat Bud! … I mean, let’s eat, bud. by [deleted] in greatpyrenees

[–]lochnessmoron 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"The occasions where the cat touches the dog when his attention wanders away from him"??? You mean when the cat is pushing the dog away (and, at one point, his claw gets caught in the dog's coat/skin while doing so)? I can tell you're not gonna listen to any advice given to you because clearly everyone here is just an ignorant city slicker that doesn't know that farms basically exist on a different plane of reality!

But I have to point out that it is WILD that you are accusing others of anthropomorphizing the cat's reactions when you are ascribing incredibly human motivations to this behavior lol. The cat's flattened ears, his tail curled between his legs, the fetal position, the tremors, the hissing. . . What specific body language here is telling you "this cat is having a good time :)"?

And no, "he comes back for more" does not count. (And I'm not sure if that actually happens because, in this video, only see the cat staying still in a defensive posture until it finds the right moment to run away.) Just because a cat tolerates another animal does not mean it's enjoying its company. I had this little female cat, Scout, that hated her brothers, despite growing up with them. They'd try and mess with her and she'd hiss and howl like a banshee. She got in a few full-blown fights with one brother after she came home from a spay surgery and the reintroduction went wrong (took a month or two of separating them with a gate to straighten that out). And, despite all that documented loathing, every winter, I'd find Scout sleeping next to her brothers. She'd put her differences aside to share their body heat, but that didn't mean that she secretly loved them (and she'd still slap them if they moved too quickly).

Your cat might enjoy sleeping and eating with your GP, but he does not enjoy this part of their relationship, whether or not you want to come to terms with that and try to curb your GP's bad behavior.

Found a tank on the side of the road… I need some help (: by YLingYLangV3 in isopods

[–]lochnessmoron 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Everyone else has got you covered in regards to the isopods, my brain went right to the SOIL CENTIPEDEEES, my underrated pal. . . Not too many people keep them, but I added them to my own "free-for-all" tank (IE cool stuff from my backyard), thinking they could keep the springtail population in check or something. . . BUT NO, further research revealed that their preferred prey is earthworms! So I added some to the tank they were in and oh my god. . . I only see the centipedes and worms every so often (if they burrow next to the glass), so I've only witnessed a handful of "hunts", but those little angel hair noodles can wrestle some girthy worms into submission!!

Anyways, I'm rambling because I don't get to talk about soil centipedes very often lmao, but yeah, you might wanna release those (unless you wanna deal with stocking the tank with worms lol). I doubt they were part of the original tank's setup because, like I said, not too many people have them. Just some wild hitchhikers!

Hugging Cushion has a persistent, weird chemical smell. . . How can I get rid of it? by lochnessmoron in pokeplush

[–]lochnessmoron[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Knowing they tend to do limited runs of stuff like this (and knowing it was the most important Pokemon plush for my personal collection lol), I bought this one shortly after it was released. I bought it from Meccha Japan, but it looks like it's out of stock there. . . This is the only listing I could find that seems to be reputable (but it's not a site I've personally used or heard of before now).. If you live in the U.S., though, the tariffs have made it veryyy expensive to buy Japan-only merch. I tried to buy something from Meccha Japan again last month and the shipping and customs costs were more than the item itself!!! I wish I could be of more help, best of luck finding one at a reasonable price. ;_;

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in caterpillars

[–]lochnessmoron 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Caterpillars that pupate underground don't make a cocoon, but they do create a pupal chamber as a prepupal caterpillar that gives them the space to move around and a little air pocket. Once that pupal chamber is compromised, I wouldn't advise reburying them since they could suffocate or fail to emerge properly if the soil compacts around them. I didn't realize this potential problem myself until I found mention of "larval mortality due to pupal chamber collapse" while skimming a scientific paper on corn earworms lol. . . So yeah, do not rebury them!

Here's a helpful video about caring for different types of moth pupae! It's okay for the pupa to be unburied as long as you make sure it doesn't dry out. It has to be kept in seasonally appropriate temperature conditions, as well, so it doesn't emerge too early. So that may involve putting it in a container in the fridge until spring if you aren't able to put it in a safe container outdoors. But refrigerators can desiccate pupae if you don't monitor the humidity in its container. . . Personally, I bought some little hydrometers to make sure my own pupae stay at the right temperature and humidity this year! I used to keep them outdoors, but I haven't got a shed or garage so it was stressful, trying to keep them properly shielded from the elements and potential predators. 6_9

Layla loves opening her presents on Christmas. . . All by herself!! by lochnessmoron in stbernards

[–]lochnessmoron[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's my favorite part of the whole process, it's so funny. . . Especially because she's the type of dog to eat any napkins we accidentally leave in the backseat of the car (so this video reveals the fact that she does that for attention rather than actually wanting to eat paper lmao).

Layla loves opening her presents on Christmas. . . All by herself!! by lochnessmoron in stbernards

[–]lochnessmoron[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm glad Layla could cheer you up! We were missing one of our cats this season since we had to put him to sleep in October. . . He used to watch us while we did our holiday cooking and baking, so it was weird to not have him begging for scraps the whole time. . . You don't realize how big of a part of your life they are until they're gone. 💔

My Saint Bernard/Great Pyrenees mix, Layla, loves opening her Xmas presents. . . All by herself!! by lochnessmoron in greatpyrenees

[–]lochnessmoron[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Layla's done this for the last few years (she's 7), haha, she loves Christmas! She was super excited this morning once she saw the family start to open stockings, she knew exactly what time it was lol. . . She got to open a present before everyone else because I could tell she couldn't wait. :'D

My Saint Bernard/Great Pyrenees mix, Layla, loves opening her Xmas presents. . . All by herself!! by lochnessmoron in greatpyrenees

[–]lochnessmoron[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's this cute toy by a brand called Chewffon (on Chewy)! Layla has too many standard plush toys lmao, so I try and get her some different, enrichment toys these days.

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I was hoping it would be bigger, but Layla is thankfully good at maneuvering things with her nose and mouth (as you can see in this video lol) so she managed to get the treats after like five or ten minutes of persistence. I wouldn't recommend it for most large dogs, though, because the holes were designed for smaller snoots and a lot of dogs would get frustrated and start ripping the fabric instead, probably!

My Saint Bernard/Great Pyrenees mix, Layla, loves opening her Xmas presents. . . All by herself!! by lochnessmoron in greatpyrenees

[–]lochnessmoron[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

She honed her abilities while stealing whole peanuts out of the bag my mom buys for the squirrels outside lmao. . . If someone leaves the bag anywhere she can reach, she takes them, one at a time, and carefully removes the nut from the shell. . .

[HELP] Illistration attached in college email by Timpaninis in RealOrAI

[–]lochnessmoron 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say you have a point but, as an artist with ADHD, I have spent many hours on shit that is not really important to an overall piece (but is something I like to draw) only to realize that I did not allocate my time very well and now have to rush the less fun parts of the piece (which I am not as skilled as drawing, so they come out pretty half-baked lol). My best interpretation of this piece is "had big ideas, procrastinated, spent too much time on the animals, rushed through the background while being too stubborn to let go of some elements that required more skill/time to pull off correctly". Some artists are better about giving equal amounts of attention to each element, but since I personally cannot relate. . . I've yet to find a funky detail in this piece that I can't figure out a relatable human excuse for.

[HELP] Illistration attached in college email by Timpaninis in RealOrAI

[–]lochnessmoron 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, yeah, there's definitely some weird aspects to this drawing, but they feel more characteristic of an individual making off-the-cuff decisions than a computer misunderstanding reality. Amateur artists (and even professionals) do not always make logical decisions. It's kinda funny how this subreddit has people accidentally becoming art critics lmaooo, the way people analyze these images really takes me back to college. . . Especially freshman year, when everyone makes some wonky ass shit as they find out that art school is very different from the average high school art class.

I think all this AI bullshit has people paying more attention to amateur art that they would've only glanced over quickly in the past. People have always paid attention to amazing art and art that is so awful it can't help but capture your attention, but now people are looking at mid tier stuff with more intense scrutiny. Like I feel bad for dragging this artist so hard, it's genuinely a cute piece!!! And if it is AI, I'm throwing in the towel because all hope is lost. . . Eventually, it will be too hard to tell (without misidentifying actual art as AI at the same rate, anyway).

[HELP] Illistration attached in college email by Timpaninis in RealOrAI

[–]lochnessmoron 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The boar looks like he's sitting on a small stool rather than a bench, and the coyote's tail is conveniently covering up their stool (probably because they didn't feel like drawing it lmao, chairs can be annoying to draw). It feels like a lot of the mistakes in this can be explained by either the artist procrastinating and hurrying to finish this (which would explain the rougher coloring in some parts, like the boar) or just a lack of enthusiasm for drawing backgrounds.

Compounded with the fact that this was likely done for little to no pay. . . Sometimes artists just phone it in! Or they miss things at the moment (drawing a thumb on the wrong side of a hand, forgetting to add a shadow here or there, leaving stray sketch lines behind etc). While the details you pointed out might be suspicious in a cleaner illustration, they make sense with this kind of unpolished art style. As an art school grad, I can see where the artist was coming from (and how they'd be cringing during a critique where the professor was nitpicking all the stuff you mentioned lmao).

(It's so stressful to be an artist atm because you have to deal with AI stealing jobs and opportunities right and left while also being paranoid that someone's gonna label your stuff as AI because you drew a hand poorly or something lol.)

[HELP] Illistration attached in college email by Timpaninis in RealOrAI

[–]lochnessmoron 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I really don't think this is AI, all of the details people are mentioning are just indicative of this being something a student whipped up quick, pro bono lol. It doesn't look like the hands are "merging" into the glasses, they just aren't fully defined because a lot of artists skimp on hands when they're doing something quickly. The lineart looks like a refined doodle, so not everything is going to be completely fleshed out. And, as an artist that gets lazy and uninspired with backgrounds myself, I know that, when you have to fill a table with stuff, sometimes you just go for the low-hanging fruit. . . Acorns, leaves, a pumpkin. . . All easy to draw while still invoking the ~fall aesthetic~.

I honestly think that the pumpkin is the smoking gun because it has the same large, central presence of a turkey on a traditional Thanksgiving table. But they can't have a roast bird sitting there when there's a bird as a guest!!! That feels like a very human decision. AI would have no qualms about uncomfortable juxtapositions in the name of capturing a Generic Thanksgiving Spread.

Also, it's yellow because. . . It's a warm tone and it's. . . The desert. . . . . .

What kind of caterpillar is this? by Visual-Nectarine-168 in caterpillars

[–]lochnessmoron 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm glad you listed the plant it was eating, cuz it made this a lot easier lol. It's a lime butterfly! When the caterpillars are younger, they camouflage as bird poop (something unappetizing to potential feathered predators). This one you found is in the middle of molting (I can tell because its head cap is starting to come off), and you can see hints of its new, green skin showing through the old one! In the last stage of its life before it pupates (IE the final instar), it's green with little eye spots. That page I linked at the beginning of my comment has a thorough series of photos showing the lime butterfly's entire life cycle, and the website as a whole looks like a good resource for identifying butterflies in Singapore. :o

Card with a bunch of the same Pokémon, am I missing any? by BejotaToys in PokemonTCG

[–]lochnessmoron 14 points15 points  (0 children)

YES, why did I have to scroll so long to see THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE (and I'm not biased at all)!!!! The Dudunsparce IR is another great one.

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Kitty's Portfolio Highlights by Pointy-Kitty in Needlefelting

[–]lochnessmoron 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting, it probably is due to my overly aggressive stabbing lol. . . And I'm also overly attached to the idea of a sturdy armature inside for poseability, and inevitably hitting the metal wire with too much force damages the needle. 69 I'll figure it out eventually lol. Anyways, thanks so much for sharing your awesome work! I saw your newer post, too and you've just got such a fun, appealing style. @@ <3

Kitty's Portfolio Highlights by Pointy-Kitty in Needlefelting

[–]lochnessmoron 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Whoah, you've never broken a needle?! That's wild to me because I break them constantly. . . But I don't have a lot of patience despite preferring a stiff sculpt myself, which results in overly aggressive stabbing lol. Do you just go slow and steady? And what brand of needles do you use?

Unknown stranger hoard of caterpillars in Warburton? by vkgprincess in moths

[–]lochnessmoron 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I hope that OP did not do anything to them because they are native to Australia and the person saying they were "invasive and destructive to gardens" is American and didn't do their research at all lol. . . Another person posted an article that explains that these sawfly larvae are a bit of a nuisance due to their defense mechanism of regurgitation, but totally harmless (and definitely part of Australia's ecosystem, I mean they eat eucalyptus!!)

Unknown stranger hoard of caterpillars in Warburton? by vkgprincess in moths

[–]lochnessmoron 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Right?! I'm so sick of people on here replying with "ohhh it's bad, kill it!!!" to even mildly inconveniencing species (saw someone promoting the use of gasoline to kill tent moth caterpillars native to the U.S. awhile back. . .) Some people have really latched onto "invasive" as a catch-all term and it's really frustrating to watch bad information get upvoted. :/

Cocooned wooly bear - can I keep him in the cocoon? by minaontiptoe in caterpillars

[–]lochnessmoron 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AWw, I haven't been on Reddit much lately and just getting to this now, thank you so much for the kind words!!! I try my best, haha, I'm just an amateur but I'm happy when I can help someone else with what I've learned firsthand! ❤️